It’s flu season (here in Melbourne anyway). You have probably received well-meaning advice on taking care of yourself. Immune tablets, flu jabs, chicken soup and hot baths. Got a headache? Have a glass of water. Feeling sick? Lie down for a while. Most basic ailments, it seems, have some kind of cure.

Recent research has shown that loneliness can also be a form of sickness. Apparently it’s kind of like a ‘red flag’ that all is not well. It’s our mind giving us a reminder that we are social beings. If we reconnect with others, we may cure ourselves emotionally.

This sickness can apply in business too. More than 70% of the top 5 reasons businesses fail are down to miscommunication and isolation. Such businesses were ‘out of touch’ with their customers. They ‘lacked insight’ into market changes, or they ‘lost perspective’ on new ideas. Social businesses have a higher success rate than those that are disconnected.

We work in an era where innovation and collaboration are not only rewarded, but essential. It’s time for lonely business to listen to its inner voice and become social business. In doing so it will invigorate creativity, reconnect with staff, engage customers and check the competition.

Three easy and proven ways for social business success

1. Perception

Studies at Harvard show that business teams with an ability to ‘read the room’ forge stronger relationships. This is based on developing the social skills of trust, intuition and empathy. Consider how you currently read your clients, staff and other stakeholders. Could you raise your game to understand them better and evolve into a truly social business?

2. Participation

From trust comes the idea of equality of contribution. If you know your ideas are going to be heard and valued you are more likely to participate. Foster a regular forum in your social business such as a ‘lunch and learn’ program where ideas can be shared without judgement. If you can make this part of your culture then isolation becomes inclusion, individual intellect becomes collective intelligence and business becomes social business.

3. Diversification

PhD research by this author supports the notion of diversity breeding creativity. Divergent thought and innovative ideas will come from a social business that is balanced in gender and broad in culture. Groupthink comes from too many people with the same views and ideas approaching problems in the same way. Diversification can mitigate this. It also stimulates learning and further reinforces social business skills as we navigate a rich and colourful cultural environment.

Harness social intelligence to shift from isolated to included

So, if your business could do with a metaphorical hug, consider the virtues, power and financial value of these social skills. The social business that gets out there and explores will not only have greater staying power but also deeper and more meaningful reasons to get up in the morning.

Want to know more about social business? Join Social Agility’s Collaborate to Innovate workshops in partnership with Small Business Festival Victoria and The Cluster Co-working space.